Hot Cocoa
by R. J. Niner
Summary: Len has procrastinated his essay till the day before it's due, but now he's realized his big mistake. As Rin keeps Len on the task of doing his homework while giving him hot cocoa to last the night, will Len finally be able to finish his essay? Based off the song Hot Cocoa A Restless Night's Song by ShirokuroP. For everyone who has work that they know they should be doing.


Len was slumped over his table, staring blankly at the computer screen in front of him. It was the 20th of March, a day before his history essay was due, and he was nowhere near finishing it.

In his mind, he heard the sound of his clock ticking, every second slipping right through his fingers. The more he thought about his homework, the more he didn't want to do it. But he couldn't just not hand it in either. It was worth a ton of points, and Len couldn't afford to risk a zero on this essay.

"Len! Did you start your homework yet?" Rin shouted, bursting through the door with a dramatic entrance.

"Uhhh, don't talk to me," Len muttered, turning his head the other way to look out the window.

"Come on, you've procrastinated this much already! If you don't start now, how will you finish?" Rin demanded, crossing her arms.

"But I just can't…" Len complained, his voice dead and tired.

There was a moment of silence before the sound of a door shutting met Len's ears. He got up and glanced at the door. Rin had left. He wondered if his sister had finally gotten tired of trying to get him to work. He didn't blame her.

Len leaned back in his chair and stared at the calendar. Just when had it gotten so close to the due date? He knew he really should work on it, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't find the motivation.

Len thought back to the days before, when he kept saying, "Ah, I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow."

He let out a snort. Just look at what that'd done to him. Now, here he was, forced to face reality after digging his own grave. Ahh, he was so screwed.

The door creaked open. He sat up and glanced at Rin in surprise. In her hands was a steaming cup of hot cocoa.

"What do you want now?" Len drawled out, eyeing the hot cocoa in Rin's hands. Man, he really wanted to drink some, but knowing Rin, it was probably for herself.

"Nothing will happen if you don't settle down and do it," Rin scolded as she set the cup down on Len's desk.

"So?"

"So drink this and get to work!" Rin said fiercely, pushing the cup towards Len.

He stared at his sister in surprise. Slowly he moved the cup towards him and mumbled, "Uh, thanks."

"Thank me later. Now let's get started on that essay of yours, shall we?" Rin said with confident smile.

Len nodded absentmindedly as he drank the hot cocoa in a few gulps. It was just hot enough to make him feel good inside without burning his mouth. With a satisfied smile, he nodded again and said, "Okay, I'll start it."

"Good," Rin said, and she left the room.

Len stared at the blank document in front of him again. With a sigh, he leaned over with his fingers on the keyboard. He glanced outside and saw the sun slowly disappearing behind the horizon, welcoming the start of night. He didn't have much time left. With a more determined mindset, he settled down and began his essay.

* * *

Len let out a yawn and glanced at the clock. Without him realizing it, a new day had already come. There was only six more hours before he'd have to print out his essay and get on the bus to school. Just six more hours to finish his essay.

Len sent the document on his computer screen a painful glance. He'd been working for so long and yet he didn't even have half done. What a pain it was… He didn't want to work on it anymore.

Glancing at his clock, he opened a browser and opened an anime website. He had to have a change of pace. Watching a few episodes of anime wouldn't hurt. It was about time he had some fun.

Suddenly, Len felt a shiver run down his spine. Slowly, he glanced back, sweat drops running down face as he met Rin's accusing stare. He stammered, "Uh, it wasn't me. My hands, they moved on their own."

Rin just raised her eyebrows and said, "Oh, really?"

The awkward silence that followed made Len feel worse inside. Sheepishly, he closed the browser and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"Now get back to work. You don't have much time left," Rin said, eyeing the clock.

Len groaned. He mumbled, "I wish time could just stop or go backwards."

Rin heard him and replied, "Hmm, that sounds like a cool idea but…"

Len cut her off and said, "Maybe if I could just stop time with my superpowers…"

He started staring at the clock and trying to make the second hand stop. After Rin had given him a strange look while the second hand continued to make a 360, Len let out a dry laugh and said, "Haha, as if that could actually happen."

Rin sighed and left the room again, shaking her head. Len scratched his head and started to stare at his flimsy essay again. He'd only gotten an intro and half a paragraph done. He really didn't want to work on it.

Was it just him, or were his eyes beginning to close? Len didn't fight it. He really just wanted a wink of sleep right now.

He felt something push his right shoulder. His eyes flew open as he flailed about before hitting the ground with a thud.

"NO SLEEPING EITHER!" Rin shouted right into his ear, making his wince.

Rubbing the back of his head, Len slowly got up, almost on the verge of crying. He mumbled, "You didn't need to be so violent."

"Then get started on your homework again," Rin reprimanded, setting Len back into his chair. Len sighed, but then he noticed a new cup of hot cocoa on his desk.

He smiled and asked Rin, "For me?"

"Yes, you banana head," Rin sighed. "Now drink up and get working, you hear me?"

"Yes, Mom," Len replied sarcastically. Rin bonked him on the head and stormed out, not before glaring at him again as if to say, "I'm watching you."

Len shook his head, smiling. He picked up the cup and let out a content sigh. The smell of chocolate was more than he could endure right now. He drowned the cup's contents in one gulp, enjoying the taste of chocolate that seemed to be melting in his mouth. Licking his lips, he muttered to himself, "Okay, Len, you can do this."

And he started to work again.

* * *

The cycle had already repeated several times. Almost as if Rin had a camera in the room, every time Len got off topic and started procrastinating again, Rin would barge in and scold him before leaving him with another hot cocoa. It was nice that Rin was trying to help him, but Len couldn't help constantly thinking, "I'm done with this… It's too much."

He glanced up at the time again. He didn't have much time left before he had to finish his essay. He sighed and settled back in his chair, letting out a long, annoyed sigh.

Rin came in again, another cup of hot cocoa in her hands. She came over and glanced at Len's essay. She remarked, "Hey, look, you're almost done."

"It's not enough," Len complained.

"You've gotten this far," Rin said, setting the cup onto Len's desk again. "Here, I'll give you ideas."

"But you've already done a lot," Len said, surprised that Rin was still willing to help him. He was sure that she wasn't getting any sleeping because of him. To think she was actually staying up all night to help her useless brother with his homework… Len had never felt so thankful to have Rin as his sister.

"Two heads are better than one, right?" Rin said with a smile as she pulled up a chair. "Now let's get this stupid essay over with, shall we?"

Len took a sip of his hot coca and smiled. He glanced outside to see a round, bright moon shining down on them. He could do this. He couldn't let Rin's support go to waste after all. Len looked back at his twin and replied, "Yeah, let's put an end to this today."

* * *

Len was busy typing away on the computer, fixing little details and finishing up his essay. Only when Len paused to take a sip of the hot cocoa in front of him did he notice that the room had long since fallen silent. He glanced over at his sister to find that she was slumped over the desk, fast asleep.

Len gave a small smile. He glanced back at his essay before getting up and picking his sister up into his arms. Gently, he set her down on his bed and tucked her under the covers. He patted his sister on the head and whispered, "Thanks, Rin."

He went back to his desk and sat down again, yawning. Sleep was trying to overtake him, but he could fight it. Determinedly glaring at his screen, he set about finishing his essay.

Len hadn't gotten that for nothing, after all. The night was long, the work was tiring, but surely, he thought, surely there would be an end for this. He wasn't going to let this stupid essay keep him from ending this cycle of slacking his homework. He was going to prove that he could finish what he had to do, as long as he had his mind set on succeeding.

Len drank the last bit of the hot cocoa in his cup and stuffed his headphones over his ears, blasting loud music to keep him awake. His hands felt like lead, and his eyes were half closed, but he didn't stop. The sun was already starting to rise, but Len just kept working, silently and alone into the morning.

* * *

Rin slowly opened her eyes. At first, she was confused. Wasn't this Len's room? Why was she in bed?

With a start, she remembered Len's homework. She sat up and stared at Len's desk in alarm. She knew of Len's procrastinating tendencies. He didn't take advantage of her falling asleep and slack off on his homework, did he?

Slowly she got out of the bed and tiptoed over to Len. He was slumped over the table, fast asleep, his headphones on the table. It was almost time for them to wake up and get ready for school. Tentatively, she glanced at Len's computer screen.

She couldn't help but smile. There, at the bottom of the essay, Len had typed in big bold letters "**Haha, I'm done. Take that, stupid homework!**" It was like he thought he'd just triumphed over the biggest challenge in his life.

Rin chuckled to herself before deleting that line and hitting the print button. She patted Len's head and retrieved his empty cup of hot cocoa. Just as his essay came out of the printer, warm and organized, Rin went out of his room and went to make another cup of hot cocoa to celebrate Len's success.

* * *

**A/N: Random one-shot I decided to do today, which I really shouldn't have... Based off of the song "Hot Cocoa ~ A Restless Night's Song~" composed by ShirokuroP. **

**Since yesterday I've been listening to Hot Cocoa... as of right now, I've listened to it over 50 times in a row... So yeah, there's where the inspiration came from... Also, I noticed how painfully relevant the song was to my current situation, since I'm nowhere near finished with my own history essay that's due tomorrow... (still doesn't explain why I procrastinated more to write this one-shot about procrastination...)**

**Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are appreciated! Hope you were inspired to start working, which is where I'm off too...**


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